Obama Campaign: GOP Using 'Swift Boat' Tactics

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, in Davenport, Iowa, during a three day campaign bus tour through Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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We've arrived at this election's "Swift Boat" moment, at least according to President Obama's re-election campaign. A group of former US intelligence and Special Forces operatives launched a harsh media campaign against Obama yesterday, claiming Obama should not take credit for killing Osama bin Laden and admonishing him for "leaking information to the enemy." The latter "will get Americans killed," one Navy SEAL says in a video released by the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund. But Obama's team hit back quickly, accusing the GOP of using "'Swift Boat' tactics," a reference to the 2004 smear campaign against John Kerry.

"The Republicans are resorting to 'Swift Boat' tactics because when it comes to foreign policy and national security, Mitt Romney has offered nothing but reckless rhetoric," a campaign spokesperson says. Romney's "two major foreign policy speeches never even mentioned al-Qaeda once, and he hasn't outlined a plan for America's relations with a single region of the world. In 2008, the president said he'd end the war in Iraq in a responsible way and refocus on taking out al-Qaeda's leaders, and few would question that he's kept his word." The group running the campaign claims to be nonpartisan, but a number of its members have Republican ties, Reuters notes. (Read more President Obama stories.)

The GOP is still fuming about this. They believe that they're the only ones to wear the mantle of military defense. What's next? Are The Republicans going to record the NYFD complaining about Obama & the Navy Seals getting Bin Laden? The military people involved in this commercial should be ashamed of themselves. They owe the President an apology.

trailmix

Aug 17, 2012 7:03 AM CDT

The GOP lives for this kind of stuff, because it is easier for them to try and make the other guy look bad instead of trying to point out anything that might be positive about themselves. They know how lame they really are, so lying to the lower and middle class conservatives is their best option.

Brndell

Aug 17, 2012 6:25 AM CDT

There is no lie too big - no tail too tall for the G.O.P. They will tell it over and over again, until some idiots actually start to believe it....